TOPIC: LTD: REGISTRATION;MINISTERIAL OR DISCRETIONARY;

DISCRETIONARY: As can be gleaned from the above

discussion, the issuance by the LRA officials of a decree of
registration is not a purely ministerial duty in cases where
they find that such would result to the double titling of
the same parcel of land. MANDAMUS;
This case involves Maysilo estate (big tract of land) P insists that he has a right and
that SOJ acted beyond its autho in issuing order that resulted to the LRAs not
issuing TCT on his favour. SOJ and DR not GAD because his right was disputable.
The ruling he realied upon becomes fuctus offcio pursuant to Manotok case settling
issue here that the mother title they relied upon is inexistent. Hence, mandamus is
not proper because he has no clear legal title, which is the reqmt for filing a
mandamus; also the action he wanted to compel is not ministerial but discretionary.

FIRST DIVISION

FIDELA R. ANGELES,
Petitioner,

- versus -

G. R. No. 142549

Present:

PUNO, C.J.,
THE
SECRETARY
OF
JUSTICE,
THE
ADMINISTRATOR,
LAND
REGISTRATION
AUTHORITY,
THE

Chairperson,
CARPIO MORALES,
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO,

REGISTER OF DEEDS OF
QUEZON
CITY, and SENATOR
TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA,
JR.,
Respondents.

BERSAMIN, and
VILLARAMA, JR., JJ.
Promulgated:

March 9, 2010

x---------------------------------------------------x

DECISION

LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J.:

The property involved in this case is covered by Original

Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 994, which encompasses One
Thousand Three Hundred Forty-Two (1,342) hectares of the
Maysilo Estate, previously described by this Court En Banc as a
vast tract of land [that] stretches over three cities, comprising an
area larger than the sovereign states of Monaco and the Vatican.
[1]
What we have before us now is touted as one of the biggest
and most extensive land-grabbing incidents in recent history. [2]

The existence of several cases already decided by this Court

dealing with this infamous estate has made the job of deciding
this particular petition easy, on one hand, as there are cases
squarely on point and at the outset, applicable; but complicated,
on the other hand, as such applicability must be determined with
thoroughness and accuracy to come up with a just, equitable, and
fair conclusion to a controversy that has now lasted for almost
forty-five (45) years.

Submitted
for
Decision
is
a petition
for mandamus seeking respondents Secretary of Justice, the
Administrator of the Land Registration Authority (LRA), and the
Register of Deeds of Quezon City to comply with
the Order[3] dated January 8, 1998 issued by the Regional Trial
Court (RTC) of Caloocan City in Civil Case No. C424, entitled Bartolome Rivera, et al. v. Isabel Gil de Sola, et
al. (the RTC Order), which was issued a Certificate of Finality on
March 12, 1998.

On May 3, 1965, petitioner, together with other individuals,

all of them claiming to be the heirs of a certain Maria de la
Concepcion Vidal, and alleging that they are entitled to inherit her
proportional share in the parcels of land located in Quezon City
and in the municipalities of Caloocan and Malabon, Province of
Rizal, commenced a special civil action for partition and
accounting of the property otherwise known as Maysilo Estate
covered by OCT No. 994, allegedly registered on April 19,
1917 with the Registry of Deeds of Caloocan City. This was
docketed as Civil Case No. C-424 in the RTC of Caloocan City,
Branch 120.

Some of said alleged heirs were able to procure Transfer

Certificates of Title (TCTs) over portions of the Maysilo
Estate. They also had led this Court to believe that OCT No. 994
was registered twice, thus, inMetropolitan Waterworks and
Sewerage Systems (MWSS) v. Court of Appeals, [4] reiterated
in Heirs of Luis J. Gonzaga v. Court Of Appeals, [5] the Court held
that OCT No. 994 dated April 19, 1917, and not May 3, 1917, was
the valid title by virtue of the prior registration rule.

In the RTC Order sought to be implemented, Judge Jaime D.

Discaya granted the partition and accounting prayed for by
plaintiffs in that case; directed the respective Registers of Deeds
of Caloocan City and Quezon City to issue transfer certificates of
title in the names of all the co-owners, including petitioner, for
twelve (12) parcels of land with an aggregate area of One
Hundred Five Thousand and Nine Hundred Sixty-Nine square
meters (105,969 sq. m.), more or less; and ordered that said
parcels of land be sold, subject to the confirmation of the Court,
and the proceeds be divided among the plaintiffs in proportion to
their respective interests in the property.

The dispositive portion of said Order reads as follows:

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the recommendation of the

Commissioners in their Joint Commissioners Report dated October 21,
1997 and Supplemental Commissioners Report dated December 30,
1997 that the following lots with transfer certificates of title to be
issued by the Register of Deeds of Caloocan City in the names of all coowners be sold and the proceeds thereof divided among themselves in
proportion to their respective interest in the property, is approved.

The Register of Deeds of Caloocan City and of Quezon City are

hereby directed to issue transfer certificates of title in the names of all
the co-owners for the following lots, namely:

xxxx

Any sale of above-mentioned lots shall be subject to

confirmation by this Court pursuant to Section 11, Rule 69 of the Rules
of Civil Procedure.[6]

Petitioner alleges that the respective Registers of Deeds of

Caloocan City and Quezon City refused to comply with the RTC
Order because they were still awaiting word from the LRA
Administrator before proceeding. Counsel for petitioner then
requested the LRA Administrator to direct said Registers of Deeds
to comply with the Order.

The LRA Administrator, Mr. Alfredo R. Enriquez, sent counsel

for petitioner a letter-reply[7] dated March 27, 2000, with two
attachments: 1) the 1st Indorsement[8] dated September 22, 1997
(the 1stIndorsement) issued by then Department of Justice (DOJ)
Secretary Teofisto T. Guingona, Jr. (respondent Guingona), and 2)
LRA Circular No. 97-11[9] issued to all Registers of Deeds. The
letter-reply reads in part:

We regret to inform you that your request cannot be granted in

view of the directive of the Department of Justice in its 1 st Indorsement
dated 22 September 1997, copy enclosed, as a result of the inquiry
conducted by the Composite Fact-Finding Committee (created under
DOJ Department Order No. 137) finding that there is only one OCT
No. 994 which was issued by the Rizal Register of Deeds on 3
May 1917 (and not on 19 April 1919) pursuant to Decree No.

36455 in Land Registration Case No. 4429. Pursuant to this DOJ

directive, this Authority issued LRA Circular No. 97-11 to all Registers of
Deeds, copy attached, stating the following:

xxxx

In compliance with the DOJ directive, this Authority, in its

1 Indorsement dated 27 March 1998, x x x had recommended to the
Office of the Solicitor General the filing of an appropriate pleading
relative to the said Order dated 8 January 1998.
st

The findings of the DOJ on OCT No. 994 are in fact sustained by
the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights and Urban
Planning in its Senate Committee Report No. 1031 dated 25 May 1998
x x x.[10] (Emphasis ours.)

The LRA Administrator likewise wrote that in Senate

Committee Report No. 1031 dated May 25, 1998, the Senate
Committees on Justice and Human Rights and Urban Planning
came up with the following findings:

i. There is only one Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 994 and this was
issued or registered on May 3, 1917[.]

ii. The [OCT] No. 994 dated April 19, 1917 is non-existent. It was a
fabrication perpetrated by Mr. Norberto Vasquez, Jr., former Deputy Registrar of
Deeds of Caloocan City.

iii. The alleged surviving heirs could not have been the true and legal heirs
of the late Maria de la Concepcion Vidal as government findings showed the
physical and genetic impossibility of such relationship[.]

iv. Mr. Norberto Vasquez, Jr., former Deputy Registrar of Deeds of Caloocan
City, acted maliciously, fraudulently and in bad faith, by issuing certifications
and/or written statements to the effect that OCT No. 994 was issued or registered
on April 19, 1917 when in truth and in fact it was issued or registered on May 3,
1917.

v. Atty. Yolanda O. Alfonso, Registrar of Deeds of Caloocan City, likewise

acted maliciously, fraudulently and in bad faith, when she signed the TCTs issued
in the name of Eleuteria Rivera which bear a wrong date of the registration of
OCT No. 994. Malice was evident because she had previously issued certificates
of title in the names of other individuals which were derived from OCT No. 994
dated May 3, 1917 and she had in fact questioned the falsity of April 19, 1917 as
the correct date of the registration of OCT No. 994. [11] (Underscoring in the
original.)

The letter-reply further stated that OCT No. 994 was intact
and was being kept in the LRA to prevent its alteration and
tampering. We quote the last portion of said letter-reply:

As found by the Senate Committees, the mess caused by the

former Register of Deeds and Deputy Register of Deeds in making it
appear that OCT No. 994 was issued in 19 April 1917, thus giving the
wrong impression that there were two (2) OCT No. 994, resulted in the
double, if not multiple, issuance of transfer certificates of title covering
the subdivided portions of the Maysilo Estate, including the parcels of
land mentioned in the subject Order dated 8 January 1998. Our
Authority, as the protector of the integrity of the Torrens title is
mandated to prevent anomalous titling of real properties and put a

stop to further erode the confidence of the public in the Torrens system
of land registration.

With due respect, the Order dated 8 January 1998 which directs
the issuance of transfer certificates of title as direct transfer from OCT
No. 994, suffers from certain deficiencies, to wit: OCT No. 994 had long
been cancelled totally by the issuance of various certificates of title in
the names of different persons; and that the plan and descriptions of
the lands were not based on a subdivision plan duly approved by the
proper government agency but merely sketch plans, in violation of
Section 50 of PD 1529. Obviously, compliance with the Order will result
to duplication of certificates of title covering land previously registered
in the names of other persons. Besides, in MWSS vs. CA, the Supreme
Court did not declare the nullity of the certificates of title which
emanated from OCT No. 994 issued on 3 May 1917. It merely
invalidates the title of MWSS and recognizes as valid the title of Jose B.
Dimson. There was no such declaration as to the various transfer
certificates of title emanating from OCT No. 994. Under the law, there
must be a separate action in court for the declaration of nullity of
certificates of title pursuant to the due process clause of the
Constitution.

As observed by the Supreme Court in Republic vs. Court of

Appeals (94 SCRA 874), there are too many fake titles being peddled
around and it behooves every official of the government whose
functions concern the issuance of legal titles to see to it that this
plague that has made a mockery of the Torrens system is eradicated
right now through their loyalty, devotion, honesty and integrity, in the
interest of our country and people at large. [12]

Petitioner avers that respondent Guingona, in issuing the

1 Indorsement,[13] made a substantive modification of the ruling
made by this Court in MWSS v. Court of Appeals and Heirs of Luis
Gonzaga v. Court of Appeals. She further avers that [n]ot even the
Secretary of Justice has the power or authority to set aside or
alter an established ruling made by the highest Court of the
st

land. According to petitioner, respondent Guingona claimed to

have made his own finding that there is only one OCT No. 994
which was issued by the Register of Deeds of Rizal on May 3,
1917, and not on April 19, 1917, and this finding is a reversal of
the decisions of this Court on what is the valid OCT No.
994. Petitioner contends that [t]he rule is well settled that once a
decision becomes final[,] the Court can no longer amend, modify,
much less set aside the same and that respondent Guingona
usurped judicial functions and did a prohibited act which rendered
the Order of no effect.[14]

Petitioner claims that respondent Guingona was the one who

caused the issuance by the LRA Administrator of Circular No. 9711 dated October 3, 1997, which had the same legal effect on
other cases similarly situated without hearing or notice to the
parties-in-interest, and that this was contemptuous and
contumacious and calls for condemnation and reproof of the
highest degree.[15]

Petitioner alleges that compliance with a final judicial order

is a purely ministerial duty, that she and her co-plaintiffs in
Civil Case No. C-424 cannot avail of the benefits granted to them
by the Order, and that she has no plain, speedy and adequate
remedy in the ordinary course of law, other than this action.

In his Comment,[16] respondent Guingona

following grounds for denial of the petition:

raises

1. Petitioner has no cause of action against respondent Guingona in that the

latter is no longer the Secretary of Justice.

the

2. The issuance of the 1st Indorsement dated September 22, 1997 was pursuant
to the report dated August 27, 1997 made by the committee created by
Department Order No. 137 dated April 23, 1997 after conducting an
independent fact-finding investigation. It did not in any way alter or modify
any judgment of this Honorable Court.

3. Petitioner was not denied due process as her rights, if any, under the Order
dated January 18, 1998 were not yet in existence at the time the 1st
Indorsement was issued.

4. Mandamus is not the appropriate remedy to enforce claims of damages.[17]

Respondent Guingona contends that he was no longer the

Secretary of Justice, therefore, he did not anymore possess the
mandatory duties being compelled to be performed in this case
by way of a writ ofmandamus; he had no more duty resulting from
the said position and could not perform an act that pertained to
said duty, even if he wanted to; and since he did not have the
powers and duties of the Secretary of Justice, he was therefore
not a real party-in-interest in this case.

Respondent Guingona avers that he was prompted to issue

DOJ Department Order No. 137 dated April 13, 1997 creating a
committee due to several complaints received by the Office of the
Secretary of Justice in February 1997. Among others, the
complaints prayed for the investigation of certain actions taken by
the LRA officials and personnel in connection with transactions
involving the Maysilo Estate. According to him, the committee
was tasked for the purpose of initiating a fact-finding inquiry:

(1) to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the issuance of

original Certificate(s) of Title (OCT) No. 994 of the Registry of Deeds of
Rizal purporting to cover a mass of land encompassing Malabon,
Caloocan City and Quezon City as well as the issuance and regularity of
Transfer Certificates of Titles (TCTs) derived therefrom; (2) in the event
of a finding of the irregular issuance of any such [TCTs], (a) to
determine the involvement of and to recommend the actions to be
taken against person(s) and/or officials and employees of this
Department or its agencies who may appear to have participated
therein, and (b) to recommend the administrative and/or judicial
actions, if any, that may directly be undertaken by this Department,
the Office of the Solicitor General, the Land Registration Authority, and
other units and attached agencies of this Department, with respect to
such irregularly issued Transfer Certificates of Title, taking into account
the final decisions of the courts affecting the Maysilo Estate. [18]

Respondent Guingona contends that it can be gleaned from

the purpose of the creation of the committee that its fact-finding
investigation was merely administrative to formulate and
recommend policies, procedures and courses of action which the
DOJ, the LRA, the Office of the Solicitor General and other
agencies of the DOJ can adopt with regard to the problem of the
proliferation of fake land titles, including those that relate to the
Maysilo Estate. He alleges that based on this committees report
dated August 27, 1997, he issued the subject 1 st Indorsement
which spelled out the policies, procedures, and courses of action
which the LRA, an agency under the DOJ, must follow not only
with respect to OCT No. 994 and its derivative titles covering the
Maysilo Estate but to all other original or transfer certificates of
title as well. He contends that the 1 st Indorsement was merely an
administrative issuance of the DOJ; thus, it could not be said that
it altered or supplanted any judgment of this Court.

Respondent Guingona further states that the 1st Indorsement

dated September 22, 1997 was issued long before the Order
dated January 18, 1998, thus it could not be said that petitioner
was denied due process as her rights and interests were nonexistent at that time. Furthermore, respondent Guingona alleges
that petitioner was accorded due process when the LRA
Administrator gave an opportunity to petitioners counsel to
present petitioners case to the LRA legal staff. Respondent
Guingona claims that such opportunity to be heard satisfies the
requirements of due process, as the essence of due process is
simply the opportunity to be heard. [19]

With regard to the claim for damages, respondent Guingona

argues that it is a factual issue which the petitioner must prove in
the course of a trial where petitioners claim for damages can be
fully litigated. This Honorable Court, however, is not a trier of
facts. Such being the case, it is inappropriate for petitioner to
include in her petition for mandamus a claim for damages the
amount of which she did not even specify. As it is, such claim
should be denied by this Honorable Court. There is also no
showing that petitioner paid the required docket fees for her
claims for damages. On this score alone, such a claim should be
outrightly dismissed.[20]

In her Reply,[21] petitioner contends that former DOJ

Secretary Guingona has to be named as private respondent
because he was the cause of public respondents failure to comply
with their ministerial duty. A private respondent is the person
interested in sustaining the proceedings in the court; and it shall
be the duty of such private respondent to appear and defend,
both in his own behalf and in behalf of the public respondents
affected by the proceedings x x x. He is not charged with any
improper act, but he is a necessary party as the grant of relief

prayed for by petitioner shall require private respondents active

participation. [22]

Anent
private
respondents
argument
that
the
1 Indorsement did not in any way alter or modify any judgment
of this Honorable Court, petitioner counters that the
1st Indorsement and pertinent acts of private respondent x x x
resulted in the altering or supplanting of a judgment of this
Court. The complaints praying that an investigation be conducted
on the irregular issuance of titles in the Maysilo Estate were made
to the private respondent by parties who held titles derived from
OCT No. 994 on May 3, 1917, after the Supreme Court had
rendered its decision in MWSS v. Court of Appeals and Heirs of
Gonzaga v. Court of Appeals.
st

Petitioner argues that contrary to private respondents claim,

she is entitled to file a petition for mandamus as she and her coplaintiffs in Civil Case No. C-424 has been suffering from damages
and losses incapable of quantification, because of the wrongful
act of the respondents. Petitioner cites the following provisions of
the Rules of Court in support of her argument:

RULE 65
xxxx

SECTION 9. Service and enforcement of order or judgment. A

certified copy of the judgment rendered in accordance with the last
preceding section shall be served upon the court, quasi-judicial
agency, tribunal, corporation, board, officer or person concerned in
such manner as the court may direct, and disobedience thereto shall
be punished as contempt. An execution may issue for any damages or
costs awarded in accordance with Section 1 of Rule 39.

RULE 39
SECTION 1. Execution upon final judgments or orders. Execution
shall issue as a matter of right, on motion, upon a judgment or order
that disposes of the action or proceeding upon the expiration of the
period to appeal therefrom if no appeal has been duly perfected.
If the appeal has been duly perfected and finally resolved, the
execution may forthwith be applied for in the court of origin, on motion
of the judgment obligee, submitting therewith certified true copies of
the judgment or judgments or final order or orders sought to be
enforced and of the entry thereof, with notice to the adverse party.
The appellate court may, on motion in the same case, when the
interest of justice so requires, direct the court of origin to issue the writ
of execution.

Petitioner avers that private respondent seemed to assume a

function that did not belong to the Executive Department,
because he had caused the issuance of an LRA Circular that
forbade compliance with a court order that had already become
final and executory. Petitioner likewise avers that the doctrine of
separation of powers called for each branch of government to be
left alone to discharge its functions within its jurisdiction, as it saw
fit.[23]

Public respondents Secretary of Justice, the Administrator of

the Land Registration Authority, and the Register of Deeds of
Quezon
City
filed
their Comment[24] on
November
16,
2000. Public respondents claim that petitioner and her coplaintiffs are not the rightful owners of the property subject of
said complaint for partition. Their allegation in the complaint that
they are the heirs and successors-in-interest of the late Maria de
la Concepcion Vidal, co-owner of the parcels of land described in

OCT No. 994, and are therefore entitled to the proportionate

share, ownership, and possession of the parcels of land described
in paragraphs XI to XV of the complaint, is an untrue statement
made with intent to deceive. This is because the findings
embodied in the Report of the Fact Finding Committee created by
the DOJ, which are the result of the joint undertaking of the
Department proper, the Office of the Solicitor General, and the
LRA, support the conclusion that petitioner and her co-plaintiffs
are not entitled to the issuance of new transfer certificates of title
in their names.[25]

Public respondents claim the following as facts:

The DOJ Report became the subject of [a] Senate

investigation. On May 25, 1998, the Honorable Senate of the Tenth
Congress of the Republic of the Philippines reached the conclusion
that petitioner and her co-plaintiffs are not and cannot be true heirs of
the late Maria de la Concepcion Vidal (par. 3, p. 33, Senate Report). x x
x.

As early as 1917, subject property of the instant case had

already been partitioned and divided among the true owners, namely,
Gonzalo Tuason y Patino, Jose Rato y Tuason, Luis Vidal y Tuason,
Concepcion Vidal y Tuason, Pedro Baos, Maria de la Concepcion Vidal,
Trinidad Jurado, Bernardino Hernandez, Esperanza Tuason Chua Jap,
Isabel Tuason Chua, Juan Jose Tuason de la Paz, Maria Teresa Tuason y
de la Paz, Mariano Severo Tuason y de la Paz, Demetrio Asuncion
Tuason y de la Paz, Augusto Hoberto Tuason y de la Paz, Maria
Soterrana Tuason y de la Paz, Benito Legarda y de la Paz, Consuelo
Legarda y de la Paz, Rita Legarda y de la Paz, Benito Legarda y Tuason,
Emilia Tuason y Patio, Maria Rocha de Despujols, Sofia OFarrell y Patio,
German Franco y Gonzales, Concepcion Franco y Gonzales, Domingo
Franco y Gonzales, Guillerma Ferrer y Tuason, Vicente Ferrer y Tuason,
Josefa Tuason vda. de Flores, and heirs of Filemon Tuazon in proportion
to their respective shares, as evidenced by the document entitled
PROYECTO DE PARTICION DE LA HACIENDA DE MAYSILO (PARTITION
PLAN OF HACIENDA MAYSILO) consisting of fifty-two (52) pages which

is attached as Annex D, and its faithful translation into English

consisting of forty-nine (49) pages attached as Annex E, and both
made integral parts hereof.

As a result of said partition, transfer certificates of titles covering

the same subject parcels of land were legally issued in the names of
above-enumerated true owners.

The Register of Deeds of Quezon City and Caloocan City, through

the undersigned counsel, filed the aforestated Motion for
Reconsideration of the questioned Order of the lower court.

The resolution of said motion and other incidents in related

cases pending before the lower court has been held in abeyance to
await the resolution by higher courts of other cases involving the
Maysilo Estate.[26]

We are thus faced with the issue of whether public

respondents unlawfully neglected to perform their
duties by their refusal to issue the questioned transfer
certificates of title to petitioner and her co-plaintiffs (in Civil Case
No. C-424) or have unlawfully excluded petitioner from the
use and enjoyment of whatever claimed right, as would
warrant the issuance of a writ of mandamus against said public
respondents.

Considering the factual background and recent jurisprudence

related to this controversy as will be discussed below, we find that
it was not unlawful for public respondents to refuse compliance
with the RTC Order, and the act being requested of them is not
their ministerial duty; hence, mandamus does not lie and the
petition must be dismissed.

Rule 65 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure provides:

SECTION 3. Petition for mandamus. When any tribunal,
corporation, board, officer or person unlawfully neglects the
performance of an act which the law specifically enjoins as a duty
resulting from an office, trust, or station, or unlawfully excludes
another from the use and enjoyment of a right or office to which such
other is entitled, and there is no other plain, speedy and adequate
remedy in the ordinary course of law, the person aggrieved thereby
may file a verified petition in the proper court, alleging the facts with
certainty and praying that judgment be rendered commanding the
respondent, immediately or at some other time to be specified by the
court, to do the act required to be done to protect the rights of the
petitioner, and to pay the damages sustained by the petitioner by
reason of the wrongful acts of the respondent.

It is settled that mandamus is employed to compel the

performance, when refused, of a ministerial duty, but not to
compel the performance of a discretionary duty. Mandamus will
not issue to enforce a right which is in substantial dispute or to
which a substantial doubt exists. [27] It is nonetheless likewise
available to compel action, when refused, in matters involving
judgment and discretion, but not to direct the exercise of
judgment or discretion in a particular way or the retraction or
reversal of an action already taken in the exercise of either. [28]

Therefore, we must look into the alleged right of petitioner

and see if compliance with the RTC Order is compellable
by mandamus; or, in the alternative, find out if substantial doubt
exists to justify public respondents refusal to comply with said
Order. Did public respondents have sufficient legal basis to refuse
to grant petitioners request?

In this regard, we find our discussion in Laburada v. Land

Registration Authority[29] instructive, to wit:

That the LRA hesitates in issuing a decree of registration is

understandable. Rather than a sign of negligence or nonfeasance in
the performance of its duty, the LRA's reaction is reasonable, even
imperative. Considering the probable duplication of titles over
the same parcel of land, such issuance may contravene the
policy and the purpose, and thereby destroy the integrity, of
the Torrens system of registration.

xxxx

x x x Likewise, the writ of mandamus can be awarded only when

the petitioners' legal right to the performance of the particular act
which is sought to be compelled is clear and complete. Under Rule 65
of the Rules of Court, a clear legal right is a right which is indubitably
granted by law or is inferable as a matter of law. If the right is clear
and the case is meritorious, objections raising merely technical
questions will be disregarded. But where the right sought to be
enforced is in substantial doubt or dispute, as in this
case, mandamus cannot issue.[30] (Emphasis ours.)

As can be gleaned from the above discussion, the

issuance by the LRA officials of a decree of registration is
not a purely ministerial duty in cases where they find that
such would result to the double titling of the same parcel
of land. In the same vein, we find that in this case, which
involves the issuance of transfer certificates of title, the Register
of Deeds cannot be compelled by mandamus to comply with the
RTC Order since there were existing transfer certificates of title
covering the subject parcels of land and there was reason to
question the rights of those requesting for the issuance of the
TCTs. Neither could respondent LRA Administrator be mandated
by the Court to require the Register of Deeds to comply with said

Order, for we find merit in the explanations of respondent LRA

Administrator in his letter-reply that cites the 1 st Indorsement
issued by respondent Guingona, LRA Circular No. 97-11, and
Senate Committee Report No. 1031, as reasons for his refusal to
grant petitioners request.[31] There was, therefore, sufficient basis
for public respondents to refuse to comply with the RTC Order,
given the finding, contained in the cited documents, that OCT No.
994 dated April 19, 1917, on which petitioner and her co-plaintiffs
in the civil case clearly anchored their rights, did not exist.

It is important to emphasize at this point that in the recent

case
resolved
by
this
Court En
Banc in
2007,
entitled Manotok Realty, Inc. v. CLT Realty Development
Corporation[32] (the
2007 Manotok case), as
well
as
the
[33]
succeeding resolution
in the same case dated March 31, 2009
(the 2009 Manotok case), the controversy surrounding the Maysilo
Estate and the question of the existence of another OCT No. 994
have been finally laid to rest. All other cases involving said estate
and OCT No. 994, such as the case at bar, are bound by the
findings and conclusions set forth in said resolutions.

As stated earlier, petitioner anchors her claim on previous

cases decided by this Court[34] which have held that there are two
existing OCT No. 994, dated differently, and the one from which
she and her co-plaintiffs (in Civil Case No. C-424) derived their
rights
was
dated
earlier,
hence,
was
the
superior
title. Regrettably, petitioners claim no longer has a leg to stand
on. As we held in the 2007 Manotok case:

The determinative test to resolve whether the prior decision of this Court
should be affirmed or set aside is whether or not the titles invoked by the
respondents are valid. If these titles are sourced from the so-called OCT No. 994

dated 17 April 1917, then such titles are void or otherwise should not be
recognized by this Court. Since the true basic factual predicate concerning OCT
No. 994 which is that there is only one such OCT differs from that expressed in
the MWSS and Gonzagadecisions, said rulings have become virtually functus
officio except on the basis of the "law of the case" doctrine, and can no longer be
relied upon as precedents.[35]

Specifically, petitioner cannot anymore insist that OCT No.

994 allegedly issued on April 19, 1917 validly and actually exists,
given the following conclusions made by this Court in the
2007 Manotok case:

First, there is only one OCT No. 994. As it appears on the record, that mother
title was received for transcription by the Register of Deeds on 3 May 1917,
and that should be the date which should be reckoned as the date of
registration of the title. It may also be acknowledged, as appears on the title, that
OCT No. 994 resulted from the issuance of the decree of registration on [19] April
1917, although such date cannot be considered as the date of the title or the date
when the title took effect.

Second. Any title that traces its source to OCT No. 994 dated [19]
April 1917 is void, for such mother title is inexistent. The fact that the Dimson
and CLT titles made specific reference to an OCT No. 994 dated [19] April 1917
casts doubt on the validity of such titles since they refer to an inexistent OCT. x x
x.

Third. The decisions of this Court in MWSS v. Court of

Appeals and Gonzaga v. Court of Appeals cannot apply to the cases at bar,
especially in regard to their recognition of an OCT No. 994 dated 19 April
1917, a title which we now acknowledge as inexistent. Neither could the
conclusions in MWSS or Gonzaga with respect to an OCT No. 994 dated 19

April 1917 bind any other case operating under the factual setting the same
as or similar to that at bar.[36] (Emphases supplied.)

To be sure, this Court did not merely rely on the DOJ and Senate reports
regarding OCT No. 994. In the 2007 Manotok case, this Court constituted a Special
Division of the Court of Appeals to hear the cases on remand, declaring as follows:

Since this Court is not a trier of fact[s], we are not prepared to adopt the
findings made by the DOJ and the Senate, or even consider whether these are
admissible as evidence, though such questions may be considered by the Court of
Appeals upon the initiative of the parties. x x x The reports cannot conclusively
supersede or overturn judicial decisions, but if admissible they may be taken into
account as evidence on the same level as the other pieces of evidence submitted
by the parties. The fact that they were rendered by the DOJ and the Senate should
not, in itself, persuade the courts to accept them without inquiry. The facts and
arguments presented in the reports must still undergo judicial scrutiny and
analysis, and certainly the courts will have the discretion to accept or reject them.

There are many factual questions looming over the properties that could
only be threshed out in the remand to the Court of Appeals. x x x.

xxxx

The Special Division is tasked to hear and receive evidence, conclude the
proceedings and submit to this Court a report on its findings and recommended
conclusions within three (3) months from finality of this Resolution.[37]

Thus, in the 2009 Manotok case, this Court evaluated the evidence engaged
in by said Special Division, and adopted the latters conclusions as to the status of
the original title and its subsequent conveyances. This case affirmed the earlier
finding that there is only one OCT No. 994, the registration date of which had
already been decisively settled as 3 May 1917 and not 19 April 1917 and
categorically concluded that OCT No. 994 which reflects the date of 19 April
1917 as its registration date is null and void.

In the case at bar, petitioner is the last surviving co-plaintiff in Civil Case
No. C-424 originally filed on May 3, 1965. The records bear several attempts of
different individuals to represent her as counsel, a matter that could be attributed to
her advanced age and potential access to a vast sum of money, should she get a
favorable decision from this case. It appears, however, that the partition and
accounting of a portion of the Maysilo Estate that she and her co-plaintiffs prayed
for can no longer prosper because of the conclusive findings quoted above that the
very basis of their claim, a second, albeit earlier registered, OCT No. 994, does not
exist.

The requirements under Rule 65 for the issuance of the writ

of mandamus not having been proven by petitioner to exist, we dismiss the petition
for lack of merit.

WHEREFORE, premises
hereby DISMISSED.

considered,

the

petition

is

SO ORDERED.

TERESITA J. LEONARDO-DE CASTRO

Associate Justice

WE CONCUR:

REYNATO S. PUNO
Chief Justice
Chairperson

CONCHITA CARPIO MORALES

LUCAS P. BERSAMIN

Associate Justice

Associate Justice

MARTIN S. VILLARAMA, JR.

Associate Justice

CERTIFICATION

Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII of the Constitution, it is

hereby certified that the conclusions in the above Decision were
reached in consultation before the case was assigned to the writer
of the opinion of the Courts Division.
REYNATO S. PUNO
Chief Justice

[1]

Manotok Realty, Inc. v. CLT Realty Development Corporation, G.R. No. 123346, December 14, 2007, 540 SCRA
304, 319.

[2]

Rollo, p. 500.

[3]

Id. at 15-33.

[4]

G.R. No. 103558, 17 November 1992, 215 SCRA 783.

[5]

330 Phil. 8 (1996).

[6]

Rollo, pp. 22-33.

[7]

Id. at 9-11.

[8]

Id. at 12-13.

[9]

Id. at 14.

[10]

Id. at 9-10.

[11]

Id. at 10.

[12]

Id. at 10-11.

[13]

The 1st Indorsement reads:

Respectfully transmitted x x x the attached report of the fact-finding committee constituted
pursuant to Department Order No. 137, to conduct inquiry relative to the irregularly issued transfer
certificates of title affecting the Maysilo Estate, calling attention to the committees recommendations
insofar as our office is concerned. In pursuance thereof, you are hereby directed:
1.

Consistent with the rationale of Opinion No. 239, s. 1982 to immediately issue a directive
instructing the Registry officials concerned, to annotate on the originals of the questioned titles a
memorandum to the effect that the Report dated August 28, 1997 of the Composite Fact-Finding
Committee created under Department of Justice DO 137, questioning the regularity of the titles
has been forwarded to the Office of the Solicitor General for evaluation,
xxxx

3. To promulgate the following issuances:

xxxx
e. An Administrative Order requiring the Registrars of Deeds to elevate en consulta to the
Administrator, for possible referral to the Office of the Solicitor General for judicial action,
court orders directing the issuance of titles even after the courts attention has been called by
the Registrar to an overlapping with an existing one or to any other irregularity in the title
ordered to be issued. (Rollo, pp. 12-13.)
[14]

Rollo, pp. 4-5.

[15]

Id. at 5.

[16]

Id. at 39-49.

[17]

Id. at 41-42.

[18]

Id. at 54.

[19]

Id. at 45-46, citing Conti v. National Labor Relations Commission, 337 Phil. 560, 566 (1997); Philippine
National Construction Corporation v. Court of Appeals, 338 Phil. 691, 704 (1997).

[20]

Rollo, p. 47.

[21]

Id. at 122-132.

[22]

Id. at 123-124.

[23]

Id. at 128-129.

[24]

Id. at 144-165.

[25]

Id. at 148.

[26]

Id. at 149-150.

[27]

Go v. Court of Appeals, 322 Phil. 613, 616 (1996).

[28]

Angchangco, Jr. v. Ombudsman, 335 Phil. 766, 771-772 (1997); citing Martin, Rules of
Court in the Philippines, Volume III (4th Ed.), p. 233.

[29]

350 Phil. 779, 789-793 (1998).

[30]

Id. at 792-794.

[31]

Rollo, pp. 9-11.

[32]

Supra note 1.

[33]

582 SCRA 583.

[34]

Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Systems v. Court of Appeals, supra note 4; Heirs of Luis J. Gonzaga v.
Court of Appeals, supra note 5.

[35]

Manotok Realty, Inc. v. CLT Realty Development Corporation, supra note 1 at 341.

[36]

Id. at 348-349.

[37]

Id. at 353-355.